Thursday April 21 in Frederiksberg Hallerne in Copenhagen, Denmark will be a night full of exciting boxing as popular Danish fighters make their grand return to the ring in thrilling title bouts with both world and European championship titles on the line.
Danish Fight Nigh Promotion headed by heralded 88-year-old Hall of Fame-promoter Mogens Palle and his daughter Bettina Palle returns with an array of fistic talent and an action-packed fight card as undefeated IBF featherweight world champion Sarah Mahfoud (10-0) takes on mandatory challenger Nina Meinke (12-2) from Berlin, Germany. It will be the first defense of Mahfouds IBF title since defeating Argentinean Brenda Karen Carabajal in 2020 after ten fast-paced rounds, where the Danish lady dominated the action with a steady attack from round 1.
During the Covid-19 lockdown Mahfoud, who became Denmark’s first ever IBF world champion, saw a unification fight in Las Vegas with Amanda Serrano fall through after an agreement was reached with Serranos former promotional team and having prepared for months in the gym. A later attempt to make a deal with Serrano and her new team had to be postponed, due to the mandatory obligations regarding Mahfouds IBF title.
Sarah Mahfoud is a household name in both Denmark and in her native Faroe Islands, a self-governing and geographically remote island chain located in the North Atlantic, where she was born. She has fast hands and quick feet and possesses an enormous amount of will power. She enjoyed a successful amateur career, winning three Danish championships and twice being crowned Nordic champion, and became hugely popular in 2016 by winning the Danish version of the TV program “Dancing With The Stars”, the worldwide phenomenon with dozens of versions of the show being produced in countries around the world.
Her opponent Nina Meinke on April 21 is the mandatory challenger and accordingly ranked number 1 by IBF. Meinke recently relinquished her title as the official European Champion to fight for the world championship instead. The German southpaw hasn’t lost a fight in 4 years. Meinke has 12 victories in 14 bouts. One of her defeats was to boxing star Katie Taylor at Wembley Stadium back in 2017, but it’s worth mentioning, that Meinke moved up two weight divisions for that specific bout as a late replacement.
The challenger Nina Meinke dreams big and aims at becoming world champion on April 21 in her natural weight class. Some of the challenges for the defending champion Sarah Mahfoud will be the circumstance, that she has been out of the ring for two years, and that she faces her first southpaw opponent as a pro.
In a battle for the vacant official European (European Boxing Union) super lightweight title Enock Mwandila Poulsen (11-0) takes on the experienced Franck Petitjean (23-5-3) of France.
Poulsen, a fast-handed and technical savvy fighter, has repeatedly been pegged in the Danish media as the best talent since Mikkel Kessler due to his impressive skills and speed. If he wins the title on April 21 he will be crowned as Denmark’s 25th male European champion. His opponent Petitjean is however a tough nut to crack as a former EU champion and three times French champion. The French southpaw has only lost one fight since 2014, and he has experience from eight title bouts, of which he won 7. His only loss during the last 9 years was in a battle for the IBO title against countryman Mohamed Mimoune.
The third title bout of the evening is an interesting showdown between two super talents. 22-year-old undefeated Danish boxing sensation Oliver Meng (8-0) takes on 21-year-old American Eslih Owusu (7-0) from Worcester, Massachusetts. The two rising stars, both southpaws, will compete for WBC’s Youth World title for athletes under the age of 23 years and 11 months.
The charismatic Oliver “Marvelous” Meng, who is trained by his father Morten Meng, returns to the ring after two years absence. Eslih “Mr. Slick” Owusu had his last fight in February 2022 and is trained by Daniel Adamtten, who is known as the longtime trainer of former world welterweight champion Ike “Bazooka” Quartey.
The three title fights will be preceded by three fights with unbeaten Danish fighters against opponents to be announced.
Heavyweight southpaw Kem Ljungquist (10-0), who has just returned to Denmark, after training and sparring with boxing star Anthony Joshua, is back in action in his first bout for Danish Fight Night. Also on the undercard is Heva Sharif (4-0) and Victor Ramon (2-0), both appearing in super lightweight contests.
A special “Dual Match” – with 5 of the best amateur boxers from the Danish National Team competing in 5 bouts against a visiting team from Europe – opens the show, which starts at 6.00 PM CET (18.00 local time).
The event can be watched internationally live on PPV at www.danishfightnight.tv
Tickets for the arena are available for purchase at https://www.ticketmaster.dk/event/danish-fight-night-billetter/5123